Mexico will not pay for Trump’s wall – “under any circumstances”

Mexico has no intention of helping Donald Trump with his megalomaniac plans. The Republican favorite in the presidential race to the White House has repeatedly stated that he will call on Mexico to help finance the construction of a wall at the US-Mexican border. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Mexican government doesn’t want to know. “Under no circumstances will Mexican public resources be allocated to pay for it,” said Economy Minister Luis Videgaray on Thursday.

Videgaray added that building a wall to separate the territories along one of the longest borders in the world, which runs for more than 3,200 kilometers, is a “terrible idea, absurd,” the fruit of ignorance and not based on the reality of integration in the United States. In fact, more Americans cross the border into Mexico nowadays than Mexicans traveling north, he added in an interview on Milenio Televisión.

Whoever the American people choose as president will find a constructive attitude and dialogue in Mexico Mexican Economy Minister Luis Videgaray

In a more diplomatic tone, Videgaray went on to speak about the fact that Trump may become the next American head of state, a possibility that, just a few months ago, seemed absurd. “Whoever the American people decide will become president will find a constructive attitude and dialogue in Mexico,” he said.

The 69-year-old mogul has said that he would deport 11 million undocumented Mexicans who live north of the Rio Grande, whom he has called criminals. The wall, he said, will keep Mexico from sending drug dealers and rapists. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us...The Mexican government is not our friend,” Trump said in June 2015 while announcing his bid for the Republican nomination.

Meanwhile, Mexicans have started a social and cultural movement to counter a campaign based on insulting his neighbors. Former Mexican presidents Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox have compared the billionaire politician to Adolf Hitler.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.